327: Alex Jones

Alex Jones is the Republican conspiracy theorist who founded InfoWars and made a fortune feeding off the pain of Sandy Hook families by lying and claiming their children didn’t die and that it was all fake, inciting attacks, harassment, and threats of violence against them. He is an indecent man with no redeeming qualities. His lawyers have argued in family court that he’s simply playing a character, but if he doesn’t believe it, he’s even more evil.

So it should be no surprise that his employees allege sexual harassment, sexual assault, anti-Semitism, and racism.

Former video editor Rob Jacobson, who is Jewish, claims that Jones called him “Yacobson” and “The Resident Jew” on air and gave prominent airtime to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and that another staff member pasted an image of his face onto a photo of an Orthodox Jew and posted it around the office. He also claimed that Jones allowed a friend to display gay pornography on his work computer and repeatedly called him “Beefcake,” which, he said, made him feel “like this was intimidating and harassing and a form of sexual harassment in that he was grooming me for homosexual sex.”

Another former employee, Ashley Beckford, who is African-American, claimed that a Jones groped her rear end and frequently made sexual comments about her and himself that, she felt, were intended to “groom me for sexual exploitation.” She also claims that a senior manager called her “coon.”

The Forward
Alex Jones Accused Of Anti-Semitism, Sexual Harassment

He ended up settling five sexual harassment lawsuits.

When Alex Jones’ lawyers send files to the Sandy Hook family lawyers, the files contained child sexual exploitation images. Jones and his lawyers claim they were sent to Jones unsolicited and never mailed. Jones went further and claimed they were planted by a Sandy Hook lawyer whom he named on his show, resulting in harassment and threats. That false assertion was sanctioned by the judge.

Alex Jones has lost two civil cases with Sandy Hook families and faces two more. So far he has racked up more than a billion to pay the families for the pain and defamation he has caused.

• The Forward: Alex Jones Accused Of Anti-Semitism, Sexual Harassment
• AP News: Lawyers, Files sent by Alex Jones contain child porn
• Courthouse News: Alex Jones sanctioned after calling child porn a set-up